Travel: Family-friendly fun at Smugglers' Notch

Monday

Smugglers' Notch resort in Vermont offers skiing on three mountains and lots of other fun activities on and off the snow for all ages and abilities.

It might be minus 10 degrees outside, but you'll always get a warm welcome when you arrive at Smugglers' Notch resort.

We arrived at the northern Vermont resort late on a recent Friday evening as big, fluffy flakes of snow covered the landscape -- everywhere that is except the resort's heated sidewalks. It was a nice touch after a nerve-jangling drive on slick interstates and winding country highways covered with slippery, newly fallen snow.

To really unwind at Smugglers' Notch, stay a week or more to explore all this resort has to offer.

In addition to downhill skiing on three mountains, there's cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, sleigh-riding, dog-sledding, indoor swimming and hot tubs, kid and teen activity centers, massage, nightlife and myriad other activities we didn't have time to begin to explore on our two-night stay.

Try sledding on inflatable "airboards" Monday-Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. Lightweight and easy to maneuver, it's a fun way to enjoy the slopes even if your legs are tired from skiing or boarding.

Families, kids and teens have their own age-appropriate indoor recreation centers. The Fun Zone has an arcade, a bouncy house, table games, a giant slide and an obstacle course. Two supervised teen centers, Teen Alley (ages 13-15) and Outer Limits (ages 16 and older), give teens time away from the parents where they have access to computer games, Ping-Pong, a pool table and other activities with other kids their own age.

There are 78 ski trails on three mountains at Smuggs, but since our group included two beginners and two intermediate snowboarders, we decided to stay on the "green" designated beginner and "blue" intermediate trails at Morse Mountain. At 2,250 feet, it's just a few hundred feet higher than Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Mass., where we ski often.

More advanced skiers have their own base lodge at Madonna Mountain (3,540 feet) and Sterling Mountain (3,040 feet), which have blue and black diamond trails but no beginner trails.

For me, a perennial beginner and wannabe intermediate, Morse Mountain was a comfortable environment. Snowboarders, who can sometimes be a little scary as they whiz by, keep their distance most of the time here.

The weekend we visited, lift lines were short and the slopes weren't crowded at all, another plus for new skiers who need room to practice.

Voted no. 1 for family programs by Ski Magazine 10 years in a row, Smuggs excels at lessons for all ages and levels, from the tiniest tots to seniors.

Lessons are segregated by ages (ages 3-5, 6-10, 1-15, 16-17 and adults) and by experience level, with all-day programs designed to keep even the most advanced kids interested. Lessons for 16- and 17-year-olds start at midday to give them more time to explore on their own. Under lights, there's also a Night School for Boarding although there's no night skiing here.

Tiny babies as young as 6 weeks and toddlers are welcome at Smuggs. At the bright, clean and spacious Treasures child care center, professionals give individual attention to your child while you're out on the slopes. There's music, crafts, playtime, stories and even cribs for naptime for the littlest ones. And, toddlers ready to try the slopes have their own adorably tiny skis, lessons and magic carpet lift to get them going.

We didn't have any young kids in tow, but I took an adult group lesson with ski instructor Peter Southwick, a former Framingham resident whose brother Dave is also an instructor at Smuggs. Peter taught me a few new tricks to finesse my turns and give me more confidence. It's well worth the time if you haven't been on the slopes lately.

Smugglers' Notch is a self-contained mountain village with six "communities" to choose from. Our two-bedroom Tamaracks condo in the resort's North Hill community looked brand-new and was very spacious, with a gas fireplace, kitchen, living area and TVs in practically every room including the master bath. With room for four in the second bedroom, it was perfect for our family.

The gigantic whirlpool tub in the master bath was a magnet to my three kids, and it was nice to have a hot soak after a long day of skiing in sub-zero weather.

No matter where we go, the kids are always drawn to water, even in winter. Luckily our community also had its own exercise center with an indoor pool and an elaborate children's splash area, as well as hot tubs that seemed like an oasis in the middle of a glacier.

A locked and heated equipment storage area on the ground floor of the condo was appreciated. At some resorts storage is just a freezing closet with no area to put on your boots. So, while we waited for the on-demand shuttle (which came within minutes) to take us to the lodge and lift area, we had a warm place to wait and put on our equipment.

While we visited on a very cold weekend, our condo had a lovely screened in porch that would be great to rock away a summer afternoon. Some townhouses have as many as five bedrooms, which would be great for a family reunion.

We had lift tickets for Sunday, but we had to check out of the condo by 10 a.m. While there is some parking near the lodge, get there early to get a convenient spot. The Morse Mountain Lodge, while homey, was crowded and could use an update and expansion. We wanted to change clothes before the drive home, but there seemed to be no place to store your gear, and the restrooms, while clean, are a little tight.

Next time we visit Smugglers' Notch, we'll plan a longer trip to explore all this thoughtful family-oriented, top-notch resort has to offer. And, I hope I'll have improved enough to attempt the ski trails on Madonna and Sterling mountains.

A step up is the Morse Mountain Grille that serves pub-style food. The nachos with chili ($10.99) was a hit with my family as were the thick-cut fries. Sandwiches, like a grilled chicken avocado club ($10.49), were a little out of the ordinary. The Madonna/Sterling base lodge has additional casual dining, which we did not visit.

Most ski resorts aren't known for their great food, but dinner at the independently owned Hearth & Candle restaurant (802-644-1260) was a delightful exception and a truly Vermont experience. The restaurant serves local organic and sustainable meats, fish and cheeses, and homemade bread with maple butter.

I splurged on an extravagant meal including a filet of beef with grilled shrimp, crab cake with bearnaise, Yukon mashed potatoes and asparagus ($35). It was a lot of food and the best meal I've had in recent memory.

Vermont bacon-wrapped pork with whole-grain mustard spaetzle, cumin cream sauce and braised red cabbage ($25) was an inventive dish my college-age son was extremely pleased with. Elk steak ($37), which we did not try, was an unusual dish you don't see on menus every day.

On Tuesdays, adults can ride the Sterling lift to the Top of the Notch rustic cabin for a candlelit gourmet meal created by Hearth & Candle and snowshoe back down.

SHOPPING THERE:

On the drive home, explore the cute shops in Stowe, but be sure to make time to stop in for a free sample at Lake Champlain Chocolates Factory Outlet in Waterbury Center on Rte. 100. Next door there's a Cabot Cheese outlet, too. We picked up some new wine glasses at the J.K. Adams Co. kitchen store, which also sells beautiful wooden made-in-Vermont salad bowls.

From Boston: Normally the drive, which passes through the adorable town of Stowe and winds around mountains in winter because the "notch" road connecting Stowe and Smugglers' is closed in winter, is about 4 hours. It took us about 5-1/2 hours from Worcester because it was icy and snowing pretty hard. We recommend leaving early in the day if you can so you can see the beautiful scenery along the way.

Package rates, which includes lift tickets, lessons and access to many activities, start at $109/adult and $99/youth (3-17) per night for a 5- to 7-night SuperSaver stay (Jan. 18-30 and March 19-April 3).

Presidents' Week stays start at $199/adult and $179/youth for a 5- to 7-night stay. Special events include a torchlight parade, bonfire, fireworks and a celebration of the Winter Olympics with games like a hula relay, ski boot toss and relay tubing challenge.

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